### South Korea Cracks Down on Cryptocurrency "Pump and Dump" Schemes#

Korean authorities have recently indicted a cryptocurrency “pump-and-dump” case under the newly enacted Virtual Asset User Protection Act, marking the first unfair trading case since the law came into effect. In the case, the suspect allegedly manipulated the price of a cryptocurrency by buying a large amount of it in a short period of time, artificially inflating the price. The suspect then quickly sold the large amount of assets they had previously purchased, profiting handsomely. The entire process lasted only about 10 minutes, causing the cryptocurrency price to fluctuate drastically and resulting in the suspect's illegal gains of hundreds of millions of Korean won. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Korea stated that the law aims to protect investors and combat unfair trading practices, requiring local virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to report abnormal transactions and investigate unfair trading patterns. The indictment in this case demonstrates the Korean government's proactive stance in cracking down on illegal activities in the cryptocurrency market and its commitment to maintaining market fairness and order.